The Importance of Small Things: Two Letters from The Major and the Missionary

Editor’s Note: After the death of C. S. Lewis, Major Warren Lewis lived at The Kilns in Oxford, spent time with friends, edited his famous brother’s letters, and did a little writing of his own. Then, out of the blue, he got a letter from a stranger on the far side of the world.

Over the years that followed, he and Dr. Blanche Biggs, a missionary in Papua New Guinea, shared a vibrant correspondence. They discussed everything: their views on faith, politics, humor, the legacy of C. S. Lewis, and their own trials and longings. Enjoy a sample of their letters and a small window into their close friendship. Read the full collection in The Major and the Missionary.

Invited into a Rich Community: An Interview with Matt Wheeler

We love to shine the spotlight on friends who are crafting something meaningful, and Matt Wheeler’s new album certainly fits that bill. Matt is a friend of the Rabbit Room who is also a singer-songwriter from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an artist who often leans on literary heroes for his musical inspiration. A Hard History of Love is his new project, a suite of songs and stories inspired by the short stories of Wendell Berry. Read on for our conversation about his love of Berry, the vision for his newest work, and the upside of creative limitations.

The Discipline of Hope: An Interview with Dawn Morrow

Earlier this year, I read and loved Dawn Morrow’s poetry book The Habit of Hope. The poems are profound and honest in a way that’s easily accessible—Dawn writes “for people who don’t like poetry.” The collection weaves together poems about family and growing from childhood to adulthood. The refrain throughout the book is hope, but the poems never shy away from the reality of suffering.

Introducing Tales of Hibaria: The Master of Tides

Our good friend Jamin Still is back with further adventures in the fantastical world of Hibaria in his forthcoming full-length novel, Tales of Hibaria: The Master of Tides. With a new Kickstarter campaign, Jamin is now offering readers the chance to be the first to receive the new book along with several other exciting offers.

Interview: Stephen Hesselman on The Golden Key

We have an exciting announcement for our Rabbit Room members! Next week, we’re sending out a very special collection of coloring pages from Stephen Hesselman, the editor, and illustrator of the graphic novel adaptation of The Golden Key.

Being Bandersnatch

Just over a decade ago, I discovered the TV show Being Erica. In the heroine, I found a character who works through past regrets in order to move forward in her present life (by doing time-travel therapy, but that part doesn’t apply here). I was inspired by Erica’s career journey, first starting out as an editorial assistant at a major publisher, then moving on to start her own boutique publishing house with a friend. I never once suspected my own journey would even vaguely resemble Erica’s (minus the time-travel therapy).

“Here I am!”: A Philosophy of Welcome

On my expansive old porch stands a large, ungainly, potted plant. It is a night-blooming cereus (NBC). It is an exotic, meant to be vining up inside a tree in the tropics. I keep it compact—or I wouldn’t be able to keep it. I have had it for decades since I was given a typically indestructible cutting from a plant then decades old. (I carried it home, a trip of weeks, squashed in my suitcase.)

Snowmelt to Roots

November of last year, with autumn awakening in me again the desire to write, I set myself the task of fifteen songs and fifty poems. Any poetry I had written up to that point I had written for myself, as a spiritual and creative practice. But I wanted to see if I could make something beautiful, or at least good, in the realm of poetry, to see if I could make a warm little house on a rainy, treeless hillside, out of poems.

Join The Hiding Place Book Club

Join our book club to read Corrie Ten Boom’s beloved memoir The Hiding Place ahead of the global cinematic release of A. S. “Pete” Peterson’s new filmed stage adaptation.

Starting July 6^th through August 10^th we will meet weekly at 6pm CST over Zoom to discuss the book and the upcoming theatrical film adaptation. A. S. “Pete” Peterson will lead the group and welcome a few cast members into the discussion along the way.

A Global Cinema Event: The Hiding Place

A year ago this month, Rabbit Room Theatre launched with my stage adaptation of Corrie Ten Boom’s The Hiding Place. It was a project that stretched me and the whole theatre team in a wealth of ways, and we were overjoyed with the reception. The show ran for 4-weeks to sold out performances at the Soli Deo Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and since then theater-goers and Corrie-lovers all over the world have been asking, “What’s next?” Well, the time has come to tell everyone what we’ve been working on for the past year. What most folks don’t know is that during the run of shows in Nashville, the stage play was filmed for cinema audiences over the course of two marathon-days of shooting.

The Jazz Music of the Spirit: An Excerpt from A Body of Praise

Our friend W. David O. Taylor should be no stranger to anyone here. He’s served as the keynote speaker at Hutchmoot, written for the blog, and appeared on podcasts, and we’ve always appreciated his sharp mind, his strong faith, and his generous spirit.

Never Too Old for Children’s Books

I spend a lot of time reading books to my three little ones. Some days my throat grows hoarse from reading lengthy Beatrix Potter books to them, only to find my children waving yet another hardcover book in front of my face with pleading eyes. Eventually, supper must be cooked, and I gather up the books back onto the shelves for another day.